Lots of stuff....and Meatloaf

Okay, I just thought this was a really funny picture.

Busy, busy weekend. Wow.

Friday started off a little rough. It was auction day for Jerry's house. It was scheduled to go on the "block" at 10 a.m.  At 9:30 a.m. I was coming around the corner of his house with a pot full of Hostas that I had obviously just ripped from the ground in the backyard, when I was cut off at the driveway by a car full of, well, not Jerry. I have to admit I panicked a bit, thinking maybe I had my timing off a little bit. You see, he had given me permission to salvage whatever plants I wanted from the yard before it wasn't his anymore, and not knowing how this auction thing worked, I was afraid that maybe I had overshot the time. What if these were the new owners and they wanted everything? So I said a quick prayer, and lied through my teeth. They asked if I was the owner and I said no (not a lie). Then they asked if I knew the owner and I said "yes" (also not a lie) but then I went out on my own and said that I was just moving some plants that his wife, who by the way, just died, and I had planted and he had given me permission to take....blah blah blah. They were very understanding and then explained that they were realtors and were wanting to speak with Jerry before the house went up for auction and did I know where he was or how they could contact him. (whew!!) Well, I took their card and texted Jerry  (who was out moving his trailer at the motor park) and then went back to raping his yard of the purple tulips, hostas and peonies that I know would otherwise go to waste.  An hour later a huge Ford xtra Cab and a shiny black Hummer pulled up in front. By this time was I done in his yard and was busy trying to find room for all my new aquirements in my yard so I was trying hard to ignore them. When one of the women walked up to the door and appeared to be trying to knock on the door, I did pipe up and let them know that he wasn't home. That was a mistake, because within seconds they were all over in my yard pumping me for information. Did I know anything about the owner? Would I give them his number to contact him? Was the house well kept up? Oh, and by the way, they were the new owners (with Hummer-driving realtor in tow). Well, I took the realtor's card and promised to give him a call, then ran into the house and proceeded to cry my eyeballs out. I didn't even bother to shut the door and to tell the truth, probably was sobbing hard enough for them to hear and didn't. Even. Care.  I was a bit surprised at how hard and quickly it hit me. This was it. Jerry is leaving. All of the doorbell ringing. All of the constant visits during the day. All of the impromptu dinner invitations. No more doggy sitting. No more sitting around drinking an O'Doules on the front porch or a barrel of Muscato wine around the dinner table. No more listening to the World, or how it should be, according to Jerry. I am going to miss him.  He still seems to be okay with it all and the new owners have agreed to buy all of his appliances from him and give him another week to continue to move out so I have one more week to soak it all up. I just wish it wasn't going to be such a busy one. I would love to spend it sitting on my porch drinking O'Doule's listening to the World According to Jerry.

Saturday came with some more gorgeous weather and an almost forgotten promise of helping out with Spring Cleaning at the church! So we packed up M and B and the gardening tools and tool box and headed out to St. Bede's (in the weeds) to clean up. Mac and I had a good time weeding and learning names for all those stupid things that take up all my garden space and even made it home with a bag full of Japanese irises that didn't get planted at the church. Ben conscripted himself to the kitchen (to be closer to the muffins and doughnuts) and was put to work "steroiding" the kitchen cupboards. (hee hee!) Jeff got to help power wash the parking lot but we were too late for him to get to climb aboard the cherry picker that was being used to power wash and paint the cross outside and the flag pole.

By noon it was off to the Opening Ceremonies for Little League. Being the coach and all, he kinda had to be there. I was a little ashamed that this was our third year of playing and our first time attending, so of course had no idea that they were supposed to wear their WHOLE uniform. Ben wore his shirt and hat. But we were saved in that the only other team member who showed up was wearing her socks from two teams ago (green) with her red uniform shirt and hat. Yes, we are the Ocens DiamondBacks again. Jeff's boss was so excited that Jeff is coaching this year that he volunteered to sponsor the team again. Oh, and loaded Jeff up with a TON of baseball coaching hints and drills (he has coached his sons team for the past 8 years and now he is off to college, so this was a Godsend for him!).

Like I said, only one other team member showed up so Jeff learned that perhaps telling the parents that he didn't expect them to show up, seeing as that the weather was supposed to be so nice, perhaps wasn't a good thing....Oh well, the four of us made up for our numbers with plenty of enthusiasm!

We got home with enough time to do some more planting and mole hunting (did I mention they have fully circumnavigated our sunroom AND the potting shed?) and ended the night with BBQ'd King Salmon.

All that excitment caused us to oversleep this morning so that breakfast consisted of whatever was left over from the 8:00 service's coffee hour (we were out of coffee, so that was inspiration enough to get a move on). B and M both acolyted their hearts out. Mac even got to be crucifer and help with the elements today, which was a BIG thing for him. But what I was proudest of was the fact that they ended up having to sit next to each other for the whole service and they BEHAVED!!! After years of getting on airplanes and having to tell the flight crew that it just wasn't a good idea for them to be seated next to each other, they may have finally broken through!!! I was so proud of them both and then on top of all of that I got THREE compliments from church members on how much they appreciate the boys' enthusiasm. Me, as thier mom, tend only only to notice the cassocks bunched up under their arms as they wait for the elements, or the strings they were playing with and left hanging from their left ear (don't ask), or the fact that every time they toss thier head to get their hair out of their eyes, their torch comes dangerously near the banner....so it was really a blessing to hear from others that their efforts are truely appreciated. Every Sunday we give them option of going to Sunday School or serving and every Sunday, they choose to serve. I am very proud. This includes Noah, as well, by the way. They are all very enthusiastic, and GOOD acolytes!

Okay, now on to what you have all been waiting for, the result of the first Meatloaf Sunday. (drum roll, please). I used a very basic recipe that called for beef, egg, worchestershire sauce, thyme, rosemary, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and bacon. Okay, the bacon was a bit beyond basic, but it isn't like it is a stretch for any of my family to eat it. I have to say that the hardest part was following the recipie to the letter. I wanted to throw in more Worchestershire sauce than was asked for (so I did) and I didn't have any rosemary, so I doubled up on the thyme. But that is ALL that I changed.  I had the family rate it on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the best they have ever had (better than Nana's even) and 1 being the worst (in my mind, any of my past attempts would rate here).  I was a little disgusted at how it looked as it came out of the oven, congealed beef fat just isn't appetizing, so I think I moved it to a serving platter just a little too hastily and as a result it was a tad, okay, a BIG tad, on the dry side. But the overall scores were encouraging, ranging from a 3.5 (me and Mac) to a 5.0 (Lydia, our resident vegetarian wannabe). I think the most fun was that everyone was enthusiastic about the whole idea. Everyone was excited to try it out and I didn't have everyone asking me 10 times "what's for dinner", because if they even tried, two or three of the others would quickly remind them "DUH! It's Meatloaf Sunday!!!". So though I rated the meatloaf itself a 3.5, I would have to give the whole experience a 10.

Next Sunday, meatloaf with applesauce in it. I think I will keep the ingredients secret until AFTER it is scored.....